Disfunction
by SETI-fan
Summary: When Raven's powers start developing a troubling new side effect, she and the team decide it's time to find a more stable way of processing her emotions once and for all. However, the road to inner peace is never smooth, especially where demonic presences are involved. (All characters play major roles, just couldn't fit them all in the tags.)
1. Chapter 1

**Spelling of the title is intentional since I can't resist a pun and Dis is the name in Dante's _Inferno_ for the deepest levels of Hell. Those who sinned just because they couldn't control their passions were in the upper levels, while Dis was reserved for those whose sins were driven by malice, intentionally harming others. I found a few parallels here with how I've been envisioning the different parts of Raven's mind.**

**I also drew a lot of inspiration for this fic from the musical _Next to Normal_ (though it is by no means a direct interpretation of that story). If you've never seen it or listened to the music, I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out as it's epic. As this fic goes on, I may point out particular songs or quotes that match well with certain chapters/events to enhance the mood.**

**I'm rating this story Teen for safety because I plan to make some of the later scenes a bit intense. Just want to make sure I don't scare any kids reading.**

**Anyway, I hope all of you lovely readers will enjoy this one! It's a multi-parter, so it may take me a while to post the whole thing, but I promise it will be finished over time.**

* * *

Cyborg was dreaming of winning the Superbowl, albeit against a team of Mumbo's giant animated gloves, when a notice from the Tower's security system woke him up. He shook off the bittersweet fantasy and called up the silent alarm's report. It wasn't a red alert, so the disruption hadn't been triggered by an intruder, but he had a back-up program that kept tabs on irregular movements within the Tower as well. Usually he could dismiss the heads-ups as a late-night snack raid, the occasional nightmare, or Robin and Starfire thinking they were being sneaky, so he yawned as he glanced over the signal on his bedside screen.

He frowned, his mind waking up more fully at the information the computer displayed. Raven's locator indicated she was on the move in the lower levels of the Tower. He glanced at the clock. 3:15am. Even the rare times Raven was up this late, it was usually just for a trip to the bathroom or to get tea in the kitchen. What would possess her to go to the ground floor at this hour?

That choice of words in reference to Raven was enough to make him decide to investigate.

He rode the elevator down, wondering briefly if he should have woken one of the others to go with him. Still, he had no reason to believe something genuinely dangerous was going on, and if Raven was just upset about something, she'd be more likely to open up if fewer people were around.

The doors opened on the garage level, where his arm display had shown as her current position. He stepped out cautiously, scanning the silent room for any sign of movement. "Rave?" he called softly.

There was no reply. The normally welcome shape of the T-car now seemed foreboding in the darkness, especially a darkness that might contain something that could put Raven on alert.

"Raven?" he called again, stepping forward.

As he passed a corner, he detected a surge of dark energy through his cybernetic eye just as she raised her hands at him from the shadows. Both jumped with a yelp as they recognized each other.

Cyborg held up his hands, soothingly. "Easy, Rave, it's just me."

The energy had immediately disappeared from her hands and she huffed a steadying breath. "What are you doing down here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," he said, crossing his arms.

"Just patrolling the Tower, making sure everything is secure," she replied casually.

"Why? You sense something wrong?"

"No, but I plan to keep it that way."

As she started to walk past him to continue her circuit of the garage, he arched an eyebrow. "You know I've got sensors so we don't have to have somebody up all night on guard duty."

"I know," she replied over her shoulder, sneaking along the adjacent wall, checking behind each tool cabinet and storage rack. "I just feel better doing it myself."

"Ooookay." Cyborg watched her slink between Robin's R-cycle and the far wall, moving like someone on a mission. "You want to talk or anything?"

"Nothing to talk about," she replied in a tone that brooked no further argument.

He nodded awkwardly, but wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Want some company?"

"I work better alone."

Cyborg sighed. "All right, well, I'm going back to bed. Don't wear yourself out too much."

"I won't."

He watched her a moment longer, trying to place why her even-more-brusque-than-usual behavior seemed familiar, then attributed it to being overtired and headed for the elevator.

"Hold up, I'll ride with," Raven said, walking up beside him.

"Sure thing." Cyborg held the door open as she walked in and settled into a ready pose, arms crossed, legs squared. She stayed in that pose, eyes straight ahead as they rode up to the ground floor.

"You know, you've got a pretty impressive security system going here," she said, sounding genuine.

He looked down at her, surprised. "Thanks."

"There are a few spots I think I could reinforce with magic, but overall, really solid against most threats."

"Enough to reassure you that you can go back to bed?"

She snorted a slight laugh. "In a bit."

The doors opened on the main entranceway and she stalked out into the darkness. "Later, Cy."

"Good night," he called after her.

Before the doors closed, he saw her resume the same pattern of checking every possible hiding place in hallway, fingers curved at the ready to summon her powers. But she didn't seem to be in immediate danger, so he chalked it up to just another bit of Raven weirdness and decided he could wait to ask her more about it tomorrow.

OOO

Cyborg had nearly forgotten the strange interlude by the next morning, when his mind was far more occupied in a desperate race with Beast Boy for breakfast ingredients.

"I said I'm doing the cooking this morning," he insisted, using his greater size to block Beast Boy from getting to the stove while grabbing a carton of eggs from the fridge. "And that means real eggs!"

Beast Boy shrugged his shoulders with a suspiciously casual grin. "Fine, you can cook the eggs, but I'm making the pancakes."

"Good. Even you can't make pancakes weird," Cyborg snorted as he started cracking eggs into a bowl to scramble. He paused, then turned around to look at what Beast Boy was doing. "Aw, man! You _are_ making the pancakes weird!"

Beast Boy looked up from his cutting board, innocently. "What's wrong with them?"

"There's no meat in pancakes, so why are you putting tofu in them?" Cyborg demanded.

"Everything's better with tofu, Cy." He smiled, going back to mincing tiny white cubes and scooping them into the pancake batter. "Trust me, these are going to be the best pancakes you ever had!"

Cyborg glared. "All right, but don't you touch my maple syrup." He cradled the bottle protectively just in case.

"Relax, dude, maple syrup's from a plant anyway. Totally vegetarian friendly."

"I still do not understand why it is acceptable to eat products from a plant in your beliefs," Starfire commented, putting a bottle of mustard in the microwave to warm.

" 'Cause plants don't feel pain, Star," he explained.

"I see. But is syrup not made from sap, which is the blood of trees, and procured by stabbing a metal tube into the tree and allowing the sap to bleed out into a bucket?"

Both men in the kitchen had frozen, hands poised mid-cooking, and stared at her.

Beast Boy hesitated, looking at the brown bottle. "Uh…"

Cyborg pouted. "Man, now _she_ ruined syrup for me!"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Well, at least the pancakes are still cool."

"Pancake mix contains the flour of wheat, correct?" Starfire asked. "Which I understand is ground up seeds, which are the babies of plants?"

A look of perplexed horror crossed Beast Boy's face and he didn't answer.

The door opened and Raven drifted in, not even looking over at the others.

"Good morning, friend Raven!" Starfire chirped, heedless of the other girl's mood.

Raven grunted an acknowledgment back. Picking up her kettle, she turned around to fill it with water and stopped as she saw Cyborg mourning over the bottle of syrup and Beast Boy staring into the bowl of pancake mix pensively. "Should I be glad I overslept this morning?"

"I don't know," Robin said from the table across the room, where he was reading the paper. "It's been pretty entertaining so far."

"We have been discussing the ethical quandaries of even a vegetarian diet," Starfire explained. "It does not seem to be sitting in a good way with Cyborg and Beast Boy."

"Star, maybe you should just let the guys cook. Otherwise we're never going to eat," Robin suggested.

Starfire nodded, but patted Beast Boy on the hand as she floated up over the counter. "Do not worry, fruit is made by plants solely to be eaten by animals. When the seeds are produced, the plant's ovary swells—"

"Star!" Robin snapped.

Beast Boy shook his head, fiddling with a spoon in the pancake batter grimly. "Everything we eat was once alive," he murmured, sounding haunted.

"And it was all going to die one day anyway," Raven commented as she passed him. "You either get eaten or you rot."

"That's a bit grim even for you, Raven," Robin said, looking up from the paper. "Everything okay?"

She grimaced slightly as she set the kettle to boil and got out a tin of tea leaves. "I haven't slept well in a few days. No nightmares or visions," she assured him quickly, "just not feeling rested when I wake up. It may be starting to add up."

"Told ya you shouldn't be staying up so late," Cyborg said, scooping the eggs around the frying pan.

"I've been going to bed at my usual time."

Cyborg watched a still-solemn Beast Boy pour pancake batter onto the skillet beside him. "Well, I'm sure getting up again for late night walks isn't helping."

Raven stared at him, confused. "Uh, I don't go for late night walks."

He arched a knowing eyebrow at her. "You mean that wasn't you I caught prowling around the Tower doing a ninja act last night?"

Now all of the Titans were looking at him and Raven.

Raven frowned back. "I didn't do anything last night. I went to bed and woke up there. I didn't even dream."

"Cyborg, are you sure it was Raven you saw?" Robin asked, shifting into alert mode. "Or could Madame Rouge be back sneaking in?"

Doubt crept into Cyborg's mind but he shook his head. "The Tower's sensors showed Raven's locater moving around patrolling the building, so I went to go check it out. It was you, Rave. A little more gung-ho than usual, but definitely you. You seriously don't remember?"

Raven shook her head slightly, looking troubled. "No. I thought I slept through the night."

"But how can it be you could have entire conversations and nighttime adventures without knowing it?" Starfire asked.

"Sounds like you were sleepwalking, Rae," Beast Boy said, perking out of his funk at this new topic.

"Maybe," she said, sounding distracted.

"Have you ever had problems with that before?" Robin asked.

She shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Um, might this explain the conversation you and I shared the other night?" Starfire asked.

Raven's head shot up. "What conversation?"

"Two nights ago, I woke up from a dream in which the Silkie had gone into a cocoon and come out as a giant Florgnarf, so to calm my mind I went to the kitchen for the warmed milk. You were already there having ice cream and we had the most wonderful conversation!" Starfire's eyes gleamed as she recounted the tale. "We laughed and told stories of our childhoods and you said that we should plan to have the Time for Girls more regularly." She ducked her head, her smile subduing slightly. "But do not worry. I will not hold you to that promise if you do not remember making it."

The vague look of horror on Raven's face throughout Starfire's account had shifted to thoughtful distraction. "Hm?" she said, bringing her attention back to her friend. "Oh, no, we can try something like that if you want," she offered half-heartedly to reassure the other girl. "So, I was unusually…chatty, huh?"

"I assumed it was because you had just had a very good night or your meditation had gone especially well. Your stories sounded like you. I do not think it was an imposter I was speaking with."

"Neither do I…" Raven muttered.

"You think you know what's going on?" Robin asked.

"Unfortunately, I do," she scowled. "Did I do anything else odd lately?"

"That's all I saw," Cyborg said. "Anybody else have any weird nighttime encounters with Raven?"

The others shook their heads, except Beast Boy, who had frozen slightly. Cyborg frowned. "Hey, BB. You trying to charbroil that pancake?"

Beast Boy snapped out of it, noticing the burning pancakes he had forgotten in front of him. "Whoops! Sorry."

As he started trying to scrape them off the skillet in pieces big enough to flip, Raven narrowed her eyes. "So when you saw me, Starfire, I seemed very happy, and when I ran into Cyborg I was single-minded about protecting the Tower?"

"Yeah." Cyborg snapped his fingers. "That's what it reminded me of! It was like when BB and I went in your head and met that version of you in the green outfit."

Raven sighed. "I'm afraid that's exactly who you spoke to."

The others stared, intrigued. "You mean…?" Starfire asked.

Raven nodded, glaring at empty space. "I believe different aspects of my personality took advantage of my unconscious state to escape containment."

"You mean your emotions took your body for a joyride?" Beast Boy arched an eyebrow at the thought.

"I didn't know they could do that," Robin said.

"They shouldn't be able to. When I go to sleep, they're all supposed to be 'asleep' with me. I've had strong emotions slip through my control due to distraction before, but they should not be able to assert dominance without my permission. That would be far too dangerous."

Her eyes widened slightly and she looked back up at her friends. "None of you have seen…the bad one, have you?"

They all knew immediately what side of herself she was speaking of.

"Nope," Cyborg said, scooping the eggs onto a plate. "I think if that one got out, we'd know about it."

Raven nodded, but didn't look reassured.

"Have you been doing anything different lately, Raven?" Robin asked. "Any changes to your meditation techniques that could have caused this?"

She sighed. "I can't think of anything. I'm not even one hundred percent certain this is more than simply sleepwalking or automaticity."

Robin accepted a loaded plate from Cyborg, but his mind was already clearly preoccupied with this new problem. "Well, there's one way we can find out."

OOO

"Are you sure it's wise to do this here?" Raven asked from her seat on a bed in the Infirmary.

"The equipment here will give us the best chances to monitor you and get a clearer picture of why this is happening," Robin replied.

She watched Cyborg setting up various sensors around the bed. "But what if the one that emerges is my demonic side? It would be better to attempt this in the safe room."

"I don't know if it'd make a difference. Trigon was able to get through there despite our defenses," Cyborg commented. He saw Raven's head hang in fear and shame and immediately set down his equipment, turning his full attention to her. "Hey, it's going to be okay, Rave. We'll just put you under for long enough to confirm your emotions are taking control, then I have this second injection that will wake you right up. We're not gonna let anything happen, okay?"

She grimaced a bit. "You're sure I can't just meditate instead?"

"When you meditate, you're _more_ in control of your emotions," Robin said. "You need to step back for this to work."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed.

"Rest easy, friend," Starfire said kindly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We are here watching over you."

"You'd be smarter to watch out for yourselves," Raven retorted, but she lay back on the bed as Cyborg readied a syringe.

"You should start to feel the effects in just a few minutes," he explained, carefully injecting the sedative into her arm.

"Can't wait," she grumped, making him smile a bit.

She stared up at the ceiling, trying to keep her mind calm as she waited for the drugs to kick in. Now and then, her nervous energy made bits of nearby equipment rattle, but she contained it quickly each time.

The others lingered nearby, watching with varying degrees of concern and curiosity. Shortly, they saw her start to blink more often and jerk her head slightly, instinctively fighting the effects of the sedative.

"It's all right, Rave," Cyborg assured her gently. "Just go with it."

Gradually, her eyelids closed fully and her body relaxed, her breaths falling into a steady rhythm.

Cyborg checked the computer's display of her vital signs. "She's out."

Robin leaned back against a nearby cabinet, shifting his stance so his staff would be easily accessible if necessary. "Now, we wait."

They each settled in for a long vigil, looking for things to occupy themselves around the infirmary, but to their surprise, after only a few minutes, Raven stirred, drawing a deep breath. She stretched her arms widely and sat up, blinking as she looked around, locating them in the room. Then she crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at the others, who were watching her warily, poised to react should the situation turn dangerous.

"Well? You wanted to talk?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, this chapter took me way too long to write (the second scene in this one went through 4 or 5 drafts before I could get it to work), but I hope it's worth the wait. I have the rest of the story mapped out in my head now, so I can't wait to write and share what's coming up. There's a lot of craziness before this is over. :)**

* * *

Robin hesitated, unsure how to address the unfamiliar entity watching them through Raven's eyes. He exchanged a glance with the others, then relaxed his stance a bit. "Raven?"

"Yeah?" she answered, giving him a cool look.

"Can I ask who we're speaking to?"

She frowned at him. "You just did. Did you have something more important you wanted to know or did you just do this little experiment to ask stupid questions?"

Robin faltered, looking to the rest of the team for reinforcement. "Did it work or not?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know. Still sounds pretty much like normal Raven."

A flash of hurt and anger crossed Raven's face. "Really?" she demanded. "After all the years we've known each other, that's still how you all see me? Just because maybe I get more vocal time than some of the other sides doesn't mean they're not there!"

They all stared in surprise.

"Okay, not normal Raven," Cyborg said.

Robin cleared his throat. "So, what do we call you?"

She rolled her eyes. "What did I tell you? Just Raven. We're all Raven, just different parts. Look, it's only a matter of time before the drugs wear off or one of the others gets pushy and tries to take over. What do you want?"

"Actually, you've already kind of proved what we were looking for," Beast Boy pointed out. "So I think we're all good."

Raven turned a dark glare at him, snorting. "Right, you made it abundantly clear you're 'all good'. You know, you've got a lot of nerve even talking to me after what you did the other night."

He jerked back, flushing slightly. "You know about that?"

"We're all one mind in here. Believe me, we all saw." Her voice dripped with disdain.

Beast Boy was acutely aware of the others watching him with pointed curiosity. "Well, it's not like I'm used to you showing up at my room in the middle of the night acting like…that!" he sputtered. "What did you expect me to do?"

She sneered at him. "I'm sorry, was I too subtle?"

"Okay!" Robin interrupted, having to clear his throat a bit. "As…educational as this is, let's move on."

"What? But I want to hear about how 'good' BB was!" Cyborg protested.

Robin glared briefly at Cyborg, then focused on Raven again, who was rolling her eyes. "Beast Boy's right, you've definitely helped confirm for us what's going on with Raven. But however this got started, you have to know it can't keep happening. It's not right and it's just going to lead to trouble. Can you convince the others to stop taking control while Raven's sleeping?"

Raven snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. Some of the others almost never see the light of day. Now that they've finally found an outlet to stretch their proverbial legs, you think they're going to let go of that any time soon?"

"So what can we do to help her-slash-you fix it?" Starfire asked.

"Don't look at me," Raven shrugged. "I didn't set up this whole arrangement. I'm just along for the ride."

"Then maybe we need to talk to someone who did." Robin nodded. "Thanks for your help, Raven. Uh…" He paused, wondering how to broach the next request politely.

But Raven held up her hands in mock surrender. "Don't worry, I know my place," she said dryly. "I'll show myself out. Oh, one last thing." She swept a warning finger across them, eyes even more serious. "I know this has been fun and games so far, but it's freaking Raven out a bit, so, you know, try not to treat this like a joke with her, all right?"

Beast Boy realized everyone was looking at him. "What? You think I'm that insensitive?"

"I'm just gonna leave that one there," Raven drawled, eyeing him coldly. "All right, nice talking to you," she said with sarcastic two-fingered salute as she lay back down.

"Sleep well, aspect of Raven," Starfire waved back.

Raven tucked a hand beneath her head, relaxed, and was sound asleep again almost alarmingly abruptly.

"Okay, I'm chalking this up as one of the weirder days in our job," Cyborg commented.

"Dude, everything dealing with Raven is weird," Beast Boy grumbled, plopping down on one of the empty beds.

"Which reminds me," Cyborg grinned, "I want all the details on this midnight visit you had."

As Beast Boy turned red again, Robin spoke up firmly. "You heard what she said. I think Raven's scared enough about the fact she's been doing things outside her control without you two gossiping about things she might regret doing if she knew about them."

Cyborg looked abashed, relenting immediately. Beast Boy got a vaguely hurt expression, but it disappeared before Robin knew what to draw from that.

"You're right," Cyborg said, walking back over to his equipment and picking up a syringe. "Well, let's wake up Sleeping Beauty and give her the news."

He gently picked up her arm and injected the stimulant into it, then stepped back to check the sensor readouts.

Gradually, Raven stirred with an annoyed grunt, shifting her face away from the overhead lights. She frowned, opening her eyes blearily and staring at the hand that had been resting beneath her head in confusion.

"Raven?" Robin asked, knowing now, though, that this wouldn't tell him with any kind of clarity which personality he was speaking to.

She propped herself up on her elbows, looking to the others with just a hint of concern in her otherwise emotionless eyes. "I take it it worked?"

"Seemed to," Cyborg said.

"Do you remember anything of our conversation after you fell asleep?" Starfire asked.

"No." Raven sat up fully. "Dare I ask which one came through?"

"We're not exactly sure," Robin said, scratching his head. "She wasn't that different from how you usually are, just more…defensive?" he hazarded.

"With words," Starfire explained quickly, "not as if in combat."

A bit of tension seemed to drain out of Raven's body then and she nodded thoughtfully. "Good. Probably Indignity or Sarcasm, then. They sort of blend together."

"How do you keep all those other you's straight in there?" Cyborg asked.

"I don't, always," Raven said, but turned her focus back to Robin. "Did you learn anything?"

"She implied the other personalities were doing this intentionally to find ways to be expressed. And that they had no intention of stopping."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? We'll see what they say after my next meditation."

"Perhaps what they did is not such a bad thing," Starfire suggested, soothingly. "All they seem to want is a little more freedom."

"They're taking control of my body without my permission!" Raven retorted. "Emotions aren't supposed to conspire against me behind my back! This isn't a game! They know as well as I do exactly how dangerous it would be if I wasn't in control, but they're too single-minded to care!"

"Your other self suggested that the system you have in place to manage things in there is flawed," Robin said, reining in her anger by giving her a question to focus on. "Could you talk to whoever it was who taught you how to do it?"

Her temper faded away into a sadder tone. "No. Azar, the priestess who trained me in Azarath, passed away before I came to Earth. My mother learned from her, and none of the other monks have her power or worked that closely with me. Besides, Azar developed the technique specifically to handle my…situation. If I don't know about it, I don't think anyone does."

"Well, then I guess we'll let you try and handle it your way for now," Robin said definitively, with a nod. "But you know if you need us, we're glad to help you however we can."

Raven nodded in return, pulling her hood back up over her head. "I know. Thank you. If we're done here, I'll go meditate and remind my emotions who's in charge."

The others stood back and let her leave for her room. Cyborg looked back at Robin. "You're really gonna let it go at that?"

Robin continued to lean back against the cabinet, staring thoughtfully at nothing. "If she can sort this out herself, that's best for everybody. But I still think I'm going to do a little research of my own."

Cyborg sighed in relief. "Finally something normal today."

OOO

By two in the morning, Robin accepted he was going to have to admit defeat for the night. He had searched every resource he had access to, even the old legends he could find on Trigon, and nothing talked about Azarath or a priestess named Azar beyond what little Raven had told them. There was a glut of research on metahumans with specialized mental abilities, but each seemed to be unique to the individuals' origins and none took into account the effect of demonic lineages. Raven was probably right: her own mental organization was most likely absolutely one of a kind. Not that that really surprised him any, for a number of reasons.

As his eyes were burning too much to focus on any more of the nearly-indecipherable hand-written notes on patient files, he decided it was time to get ready for bed and start fresh in the morning. Unless, of course, all went well and Raven managed to set things right over the course of the night.

Strolling down the hall to brush his teeth, he figured it was too late to bother Starfire by ducking in for a visit. Still, as he walked through the girls' wing of rooms, he found himself pausing, listening carefully. Walking back, he stopped outside Raven's door and leaned his ear against it. He wasn't imagining things; inside he could hear the distinct, if very out-of-place sound of sobbing.

"Raven?" he called quietly.

The sobs were interrupted by a startled gasp. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

While the phrase was familiar coming from her, the raw emotion in her voice wasn't. "Raven, I'm coming in," he warned, reaching for the controls to the door and entering the emergency override of her lock. He hated intruding like that, but they had all learned that there were times Raven's need for support had to outweigh her habit of trying to handle everything herself.

As the door swished open, he just made out her backlit shape curled in the bed, facing the window. He took the lack of any barriers of dark energy as indication she didn't really want him to stay away. Walking carefully across the room, sidestepping the books and candles cast about by her emotional outpouring, he rounded the bed to sit gingerly beside her. "Raven, what's wrong? Was it a nightmare? Or a vision?"

She remained tightly wrapped in on herself, turning her head into her pillow to try to stop him from seeing her tears, but it was undeniable. The moonlight cast a faint shine to drying streaks on her face suggesting this had been going on for a while. "No. It's nothing."

"'Nothing' doesn't leave you crying yourself to sleep," he coaxed gently, running through possibilities in his head of what she might have seen in her meditation to trigger this.

She closed her eyes as new tears welled up in them and a swirl of dark energy rattled items around her room like a dust devil. "I shouldn't be doing this. It's too dangerous. You should go."

He frowned, puzzled. "Doing what?"

She sniffled. "I know better. It's not worth the risk of our power getting out of control. I just never get to be expressed and with all the chaos in there and everyone arguing, I decided to sneak out and grab my chance." Her voice was cracking and the wind had gotten stronger. "It was selfish and if you don't get out you're going to get hurt!"

It dawned on Robin then who he was talking to. He put a hand on hers, getting her to look at him. The Sadness in her eyes made his heart ache. "It's okay. I know you didn't sneak out to cause trouble. Things must be pretty bad in there if you were willing to risk losing control to express yourself."

Her eyes squeezed shut again and he could almost feel the weight of depression emanating off her. "I'm supposed to be used to it. Everything just builds up so much sometimes and the meditation's supposed to help, but…I saw an easy way out and—" Her voice choked off and a glass ball rolled off her shelf with a _thud_. She jumped slightly, Shame swirling through the energy buffeting them and increasing its turbidity. "I'm going to do bad things again."

Robin thought it was a non sequitor at first or a dark premonition, but she continued, her eyes looking up at his with a shadow of Desperation and Fear. "I didn't mean to stay out here this long, but I don't know how to pull back and put Raven back in charge. There's too much emotion. I can't stop it. I messed up and it's getting worse and now I'm going to hurt somebody."

He gripped her hand firmly. "No, you're not."

"I already destroyed the world once!" Her voice was edging toward hysteria. "What if it happens again? I don't think I can stop this!"

"Then don't." Robin got off the bed and knelt down in front of her, forcing her to look at him. "Maybe whatever's going on with your mind that's letting all of you emotions escape is trying to tell you something you need to do. If the pressure is building up that badly, then it has to come out. It's okay. You're in the Tower. If anything breaks, we'll fix it."

She shook her head, fighting it. Even when it had free rein, her emotion was trying to suppress itself. "I'll hurt you, or the others."

"No, you won't." He wished for once his mask was off, but knew her empathic senses would pick up the intensity of his belief in her even without being able to see his eyes. "I trust you. And I'm here for you. We all are. Even if it's just this once, it's time to let it out, Raven."

He felt her starting to give in and on an impulse leaned forward, sliding his arms around her in an awkward, but sincere hug. He braced himself slightly, knowing that if normal Raven was in charge she would reject the gesture, but his instincts were rewarded when he felt her initial surprise pass and her arms latched around his back in almost desperate relief, pulling herself more upright so she could bury her face in his shoulder.

Her body shuddered as she finally accepted his permission and a sudden wave of energy poured off of her like a dam breaking. He felt like someone had doused him with ice water as it passed through him, the lingering empathic bond between them filling with an almost crushing surge of pain, grief, regret, depression, and a myriad of other related sensations. He clung to Raven harder, dizzy in its wake as the raw emotion swirled out to join the now-raging winds whipping through her room.

While the furniture remained standing, everything on it was overturned, sent aloft, or scattered across the floor. Pages of books fluttered, but did not tear. A few candles, braced in sconces or heavier holders, flared to life in defiance of the wind, but the flame did not spread. Robin noticed he had left the door open when he entered, but he was proud to see the effects of Raven's powers seemed to stop at the doorjamb.

In the eye of the tempest, Robin held Raven securely, one hand instinctively moving to protect the back of her head, even though he doubted her powers would really let any of the flying objects hit her. He didn't know anything else to say to her in the face of her outburst, so he simply tried to be there for her, letting his physical presence absorb as much of the pain as he could take in. This kind of comforting wasn't something that came naturally to him. While Alfred had been very nurturing to the young orphan when he had come to Wayne Manor, Robin had quickly decided he would rather follow Batman's example, focusing on the job to distract him from the emotions that could have so easily overwhelmed him in those first years following his parents' deaths. It wasn't until he met Starfire that he was reminded how powerful physical contact, even in as simple a form as a caring hand on the shoulder, could be. While he knew he would never be able to impart as much emotion into a hug as she could, he tried his best for Raven.

Over time, the dark energy flow died down, gently depositing the various objects in random places around the room. Robin felt Raven's arms relax and droop around his back, her breathing still hitching slightly, but becoming more regular again. He thought he heard a murmured "Thank you", but when he twisted his neck to look down at her, she was asleep.

Robin sensed a presence watching him and looked up to see Starfire in the doorway, eyes dark with worry. _It's okay_, he mouthed, gently shifting Raven off his shoulder and laying her back down. She stirred slightly, but settled quickly into undisturbed sleep. He pulled her blanket over her then tiptoed carefully through the debris now covering her floor. For a moment, he debated whether he should try to clean some of it up, but wouldn't know where to start, so he decided he would just have to explain it to her in the morning.

He stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him, and let out a sigh as his tension lowered slightly.

"Everything is all right?" Starfire asked quietly.

"As all right as it can be with Raven like this," he said. "I think she'll actually sleep the rest of the night. She should be pretty worn out after that."

"It was the Sadness?"

"I think so. There may have been other emotions sneaking in too. But that was the main one."

Starfire looked back at the door, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold. "I heard a noise like a terrible storm, but when I woke the sky was clear. Then I heard Raven's voice. I have never heard her cry before. Not like that. Not even when the Trigon was here."

"I know. I think that was long overdue."

Starfire turned to him, eyes soulful. "Robin, how do we help our friend?"

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out."

She nodded in determination. "In the morning, we will make a plan. But please promise me tonight, Robin, you will at least capture a few z's."

He smiled in spite of himself. "Yes, ma'am."

They leaned in for a good night kiss, then Robin found himself wrapping her in a hug, trying to soak in all the warmth, love, and peace she radiated even in the dead of the night. "Star, thank you for being here."

He felt her start to float a bit as she embraced him just as tightly in return. "I always will be, Robin. I promise."

He stayed there for a few minutes, letting her light chase away the remaining darkness in his heart.

OOO

Robin returned to his room filled with new purpose and a clearer head. Ideas were racing through his mind, but he forced himself to sleep for a few hours anyway, both to keep his promise to Starfire and to pass the time until he was sure it was after dawn in Steel City.

Still, when Bumble Bee answered his call, it was obvious he had woken her up.

"Robin?" Her eyes were still half-lidded, but focused quickly on seeing him, ready to act. "What's wrong? Do you need us there?"

"No, Jump City's safe. I just need to ask your help on something."

"It's not an emergency, but you're calling me first thing in the morning?" she asked, her voice conveying exactly how much she appreciated that decision.

He grimaced slightly, but continued. "The city's fine, but we're dealing with something that's a bit out of our team's league. I called to ask your help, but I need you to be discreet about it."

Bumble Bee seemed more fully awake now, her interest piqued. "Sure thing, Robin. What's up?"

"I'm looking for someone who has experience with psychic abilities, preferably one who won't be intimidated by the supernatural."

"You've already got Raven there, how bad—?" Her eyes widened. "Oh. Is Raven all right?"

"She will be. And ultimately I think she can handle this issue herself, but I thought having someone to consult with might help. None of us exactly know a lot about telepathic powers. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on who I could ask."

"Gotcha." Bumble Bee leaned her chin in her hand, thinking. "Raven know you're asking me?"

Robin winced. "Not yet. And you know how private she is. That's why I want to keep the options within the Titans, and only talk about this with whoever we pick. I was thinking about Jericho, since Raven actually seems to like him and he would never betray someone's confidence, but he's kind of hard to get in touch with and his powers aren't exactly the same as psychic ones." Plus the thought of sending that gentle soul into Raven's mind when it was unbalanced seemed too big a risk to take.

"Yeah." A smile crept over Bumble Bee's face. "Don't worry about a thing, Rob, I think I've got just the person in mind. So, how soon should I have them drop by?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delays! This chapter wound up a lot longer than the previous two. Hope you all enjoy it! I'm also curious if anyone guessed who the help Bumble Bee found for them is.**

**If you're playing the game matching "Next to Normal" songs with chapters, you could probably use the first verse and chorus of "I Am the One" for Robin in this chapter. (Or, if you're a BBRae shipper, apply those lyrics to the whole story. Although I'm writing in show canon, this fic is going to have lots of scenes that could be interpreted to fit either of your shipping preferences. :) ) Definitely by later in the story those lyrics will fit.**

* * *

When Raven awoke the next morning, she still didn't feel as rested as she had hoped, but there was a distinct lack of emotional pressure in her mind. She nodded slightly to herself in satisfaction. Apparently laying down the law to her emotions during meditation the previous evening had done the trick. And aside from a little humiliation, it seemed she had gotten through this recent quirk in her powers without anyone getting hurt.

She stretched, noticing the sun was already well over the horizon. She'd overslept again. Robin wouldn't be too happy about this recent trend, but he had given up on lecturing them all about the values of starting the day early years ago. Besides, her system would normalize again soon now that this problem had been solved.

Sitting up with a yawn, she froze in shock as she saw the state of devastation her room was in. "What the—?"

Under the pressure of Raven's fear and demanding curiosity, her emotions launched into their spectrums' versions of pointing at each other and saying, "She did it." Raven was able to follow their accusations to Sadness and her cohort of feelings, who were cowering in their usual section of her mind, surrounded by Guilt. Any anger at their disobedience died away and Raven touched her cheek, feeling the dried film of tears there.

"At least it was just you," she sighed, surveying the damage. Thankfully, her walls, window, ceiling, and floor were still intact. That suggested she likely hadn't destroyed more of the Tower than her own quarters, and thus hadn't hurt her friends, although she wouldn't be able to relax until she knew for sure.

She looked at the disorder in her room with dismay, but the need to assure herself of her friends' well-being outweighed her need to restore her sanctuary, so she tried to ignore the mess as she dressed and left her room.

To her relief, she saw no signs of damage outside her quarters and as she approached the common room she was met by the sounds of the rest of the team engaged in their morning rituals. Well, nearly all of them. Rather than reading the paper or going through reports on the big screen, she found Robin leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee, seeming distracted, while Starfire and Beast Boy debated what to rent from the video store that night.

He looked up as she entered. "Morning, Raven. How'd you sleep?"

She grimaced, but decided not to worry them since her outburst had only affected herself. "Better than the last few nights, but not by much."

"Sorry. Can I get you something? Tea or…?"

She frowned at his unusual offer, raising an eyebrow. "I've got it. But thanks."

He nodded and seemed to go back to sipping his coffee, but she could feel his attention on her as she prepared her kettle. She sensed Starfire's focus shift toward her as well, as Beast Boy turned his efforts to convincing Cyborg to give him a ride to the video store. With the kettle started and nothing to do till it boiled, Raven debated how much her friends might be aware of what had happened that night. Starfire's room wasn't that far away, after all. If she heard any of Raven's emotional break-out, she likely would have shared her concern with Robin. Which could explain his overly-helpful mood this morning.

These thoughts were lent further support as they all settled at the table and Robin made a point of getting a plate of food for Raven as well as Starfire. Suspicion started shouting triumphantly when he brought her one loaded with waffles and Starfire pushed the syrup her way with an extra-friendly smile.

"Um, not that I don't appreciate it, but are you giving me special treatment because of what's going on with my emotions?" she asked drily.

Both Robin and Starfire lit up to her empathic senses with immediate denial that wasn't quick enough to hide the guilt of being caught.

"You are my friend, Raven," Starfire protested. "Do I need a reason to be nice to you?"

"You I'm not surprised at, but Robin, you're usually better at lying than this," she said pointedly.

He looked a little startled at that assessment, but simply shrugged, keeping his face the picture of innocence. "You've had a bit of a tough week. So, yeah, I guess I wanted to do something nice for you."

Normally she would have accepted his protective, brotherly concern without a thought, but the undertone of guilt still pervaded his energy. Still, she let it go for now. "Thanks."

"You know, I'm kind of stressed out too," Beast Boy commented. "Will you make me breakfast tomorrow?"

Cyborg elbowed him and the conversation flowed back into the usual bickering and chatting. Raven had almost forgotten Robin's strange behavior until, toward the end of the meal, he cleared his throat.

"So, we have a guest coming to stay with us for a while," he announced.

They all looked up, surprised.

"Oh, yeah?" Cyborg asked. "Who's coming by? Kid Flash in town again?"

"Titans East dropping by to be reminded how the best do it?" Beast Boy asked, playfully preening a bit.

"No, it is a Titan, but not one we've met before."

"There are Titans we haven't met yet?" Cyborg asked. Suddenly his eyes widened, jaw dropping. "Hold up. Is Star pregnant?"

"What? No!" Robin retorted quickly, but his eyes flickered quickly to Starfire's.

"No," she agreed firmly, if slightly amused.

"No. And if she was, why would I announce it by saying someone was coming to visit 'for a while'?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, man!" Cyborg grumbled, scooping another forkful of eggs. "If it's not that, why are you beating around the bush so much? Just say who it is!"

Beast Boy's eyes suddenly widened with an excited gasp. "Is it Batman?!"

"It's not Batman," Robin said, exasperated.

"Robin, what did you do?" Raven asked quietly.

They all turned to look at her, then at Robin, who looked distinctly uncomfortable under Raven's piercing gaze.

"You're nervous about this guest, and it's directed at me," she pressed, folding her arms. "Making me breakfast, being unusually nurturing…you've been trying to get on my good side because you're afraid of how I'm going to react to this visitor. What going on, Robin?"

He sighed and guilt colored his energy even darker, making her stomach clench. He braced his hands on the edge of the table, looking down at his plate as he answered. "Last night, another one of your emotions got out."

Raven glanced at Starfire, who was prodding at her food with a sad expression.

"Don't worry, it wasn't the bad one, but it was bad enough. I just decided that maybe you would have an easier time finding a solution to this problem if you had a peer to consult with."

He paused as her face went even stonier. She wasn't sure if the temperature actually dropped in the room or if she just felt like it did, but from their wary poses, the rest of the Titans clearly caught her mood.

"You told someone else about my problem?" she asked, voice dangerously level.

"No, I didn't. All I said was that we could use the input of someone who had experience with psychic abilities. No details, not even that it was an internal issue."

"But you brought in a stranger." Raven stood, feeling her powers move her chair out of the way preemptively as anger crept into her tone. "I know my meditation didn't work last night, but you didn't even give me a full day to try to handle this myself."

"She's not coming to tell you what to do, just offer a different perspective. I know you eventually will figure out a solution, some new technique for pressing your emotions down even deeper, under even tighter control, but after what I saw last night, I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore."

Her eyes widened, color flushing her cheeks. He hadn't just heard about it from Starfire. She was mortified at the idea that Robin had been there while she was in the middle of an emotional breakdown.

"You didn't hurt anyone," he assured her quickly. "But it reminded me what you have to try to contain all the time. I…I couldn't leave it alone anymore."

Raven paced away from the table, drawing her cloak tighter around herself as she reinforced the walls around her mind. She couldn't take the stares and sympathy that were flowing from her teammates. "It's my problem," she growled. "It wasn't your responsibility to involve others behind my back."

"If your powers aren't under control, then it _is_ my responsibility to look out for the safety of my team," he snapped back.

She flinched, her eyes squeezing shut as his words struck down to a nerve.

His footsteps approached her. "That includes you, Raven," he said, softer, putting a hand on her shoulder, a brave move given her current emotional state. She looked back up, and though his eyes were masked, she could sense the concern and determination behind them. "Just because you _can_ handle it doesn't mean you should have to."

For a moment, Raven thought her brittle emotions were making the Tower rattle, as she felt them shuddering against her shields, but she realized it was the sound of a jet engine landing on the roof. Relieved for the distraction as Robin's gaze shifted upward, she dragged her internal shields more firmly back into place.

"That's her." Robin looked back down at Raven. "You don't have to agree to this, but will you at least come meet her?"

With her composure back in place, Raven glanced at her friends' hopeful expressions and sighed. "Fine."

The others hopped out of their chairs, excited to meet their visitor now that the spell of tension had broken.

"So how come we've never met this Titan before?" Cyborg asked, happy to change the topic a bit. "Was she on another planet when we went on our world tour?"

"Practically," Robin said as they headed for the elevator. "She apparently was spending most of her time on Themyscira at that point."

"Themyscira?" Starfire asked. "Is that not where the Wonder Woman is from?"

"Dude!" Beast Boy gasped. "You invited an Amazon?!"

"Is it Wonder Girl?" Cyborg grinned. "I swear it feels like I never see that girl."

"No, she's not really an Amazon, I guess. She just has some family ties with them somehow. Bumble Bee was a bit vague on that."

_Bumble Bee. Great_, Raven thought darkly. Robin hadn't just sought out help himself, now Titans East knew something was wrong with her too.

Raven noticed the panel of the wall next to her beginning to warp and pulled her aggravated emotions back under control, riding the rest of the way to the roof in silence.

She followed the others out into the open air, intentionally staying at the back of the group and subconsciously raising her hood back into place. Looking between the heads of the others, she could see a red-headed young woman standing beside the helipad, waving a farewell into the empty sky.

"Lilith?" Robin asked.

The woman turned around, beaming when she saw them. "Hey! Nice to finally get to meet the legendary original Titans. Sorry I didn't call first. Bumblebee said you would be expecting me."

_Some of us, at least_, Raven muttered in her head.

"We appreciate you coming out to help us," Robin said, stepping forward to shake her hand. "Uh, did you teleport here or…?"

Lilith laughed. "Oh no, I don't have that power. Wonder Woman flew me here," she said, gesturing to the lack of a visible parting aircraft.

"I missed seeing Wonder Woman?!" Cyborg moaned. He caught himself and smiled, a bit embarrassed, at Lilith. "Not that it's not a pleasure to meet _you_."

She grinned, unoffended. "Don't worry, I know I'm not exactly one of the big names in the game."

"Just makes you more of a nice surprise." Beast Boy popped up beside Cyborg with a charming grin.

"I am very glad to meet you, new friend!" Starfire enthused, throwing Lilith off-balance as she shook her hand vigorously. "You must be very talented for Bumblebee to send you to us."

"Hope I can live up to your expectations," Lilith replied. She glanced past Starfire and recoiled slightly, eyes wide. "Whoa. You've gotta be Raven."

Raven braced herself slightly. "I take it my reputation precedes me?"

"No, actually, all Bumble Bee told me was someone here had mental powers. I've just never seen anyone with shields as strong as yours. I mean, I'm not even probing and they're just right there." Lilith waved her hand gesturing at Raven's general area. Her eyes narrowed, confused. "And facing _inward_?"

"All right," Raven cut her off, reinforcing her mental walls instinctively against the woman's penetrating gaze. "You've proven your abilities. Don't push it."

Lilith had the grace to look a bit sheepish. "Sorry, I genuinely didn't mean to pry. I try to keep my telepathic senses blocked unless given permission. I wouldn't have looked if you weren't projecting so blatantly." She squared her shoulders, setting down her travel bag. "So, how can I be of assistance to you?"

Raven studied the young woman. She was around their age, if not slightly older, with orange hair flowing past her shoulders. Her clothes were the style that Raven had picked up was considered trendy, the only odd exception being a small Wiccan pentacle on a chain around her neck. Her aura radiated pure cheerful eagerness, which was reflected in her expression.

Raven couldn't help but wonder how she must have offended Bumble Bee to be matched with a wannabe witch for help. Still, as much as she didn't want to be there, feeling her friends' hopeful stares behind Lilith, she couldn't bring herself to lash out at the girl. Blame it on her resemblance to Starfire.

"Honestly?" Raven asked, keeping her voice expressionless. "The best thing you can do is treat this trip as a social visit, have fun with the rest of the team, and leave me alone to deal with things unless _I_ decide that I need help." She forced a slight polite smile. "Nice to meet you."

She slammed her mental walls solidly into place to avoid feeling any hurt or disappointment from their guest and phased through the roof back down to her room. The familiar silence and comfort of the closed off chamber soothed her mind, allowing her to set aside the embarrassment and insult of having a stranger brought in to because she wasn't strong enough to cope with her own powers.

Opening her eyes, however, she was reminded why Lilith had been called in in the first place. The chaos in her room ruined its effect of promoting balance and spiritual sanctuary. Robin had been in here, she mused as she pictured the forces that must have scattered her belongings so violently. She hadn't seen any injuries on him or sensed any pain, but he could have been hiding them. It was hard to believe he could have braved a storm like that without a scratch.

Her eyes closed against that thought. This ended now. Her emotions' leeway stopped when they threatened her friends.

For now, the first step toward that control was to restore order to her room. Hopefully, improving the condition of her external surroundings would have an effect on her interior mindset. The steady sorting and putting away of objects did have a calming influence on her, reminiscent of meditation. Simple, repetitive actions, allowing the mind to drift and decompress as she worked.

A knock at the door disrupted her tranquil environment. Irritated, she turned to tell her visitor to go away, but stopped when she sensed who it was. "Yes, Starfire?"

"May I come in, Raven?"

Raven activated the door with her powers, setting down a stack of books as Starfire entered and looking at her expectantly.

"I came to see if you were all right," Starfire said, standing awkwardly just inside the door. "You left rather…suddenly."

"My emotions are hijacking my body and there's a stranger here who wants to talk to me about my feelings. But otherwise, I'm fine," Raven said, picking up a candle to reposition on a side table.

Starfire nodded. "I am sorry things are not well." Coming from anyone else, Raven would have taken that as a trite, reflexive comment, but Starfire radiated genuine regret that a friend was not content. The alien girl looked around the room. "Would you like some help cleaning up?"

Raven didn't, really, but she had had a little time to settle her mind and sometimes Starfire's simple, straightforward emotions could be reassuring in their own way, drowning out her own complicated snarl of inner voices. "All right. How about you sort things into piles and I'll put them back where they belong?"

Starfire's face and presence brightened. "Of course! Shall I subclassify by size or distinctive characteristics or—"

"Whatever you want," Raven cut her off, returning her attention to reorganizing her books into their case.

To her surprise, Starfire set about her assigned task in silence, forming several neat piles in the center of the room. Raven relaxed a bit, letting her friend's warmth and happiness wash over her like the heat of a fire on a cold night.

After a while, she felt nervousness build up in Starfire's emotional field, suggesting she wanted to say something. Raven continued her work calmly, waiting for her to get her courage up.

"Raven?"

"Yes, Starfire?"

Her aura was only nerves now as she straightened a stack of books compulsively. "Would you like me to hate Lilith?"

Raven looked back, surprise breaking her focus. "What?"

"Lilith, our guest? Would you like me to hate her?"

"Why would I want that?" Raven asked, staring at her, brow furrowed in confusion.

"It is my understanding that between the Forever Best Friends when someone is the enemy of my friend, it is my responsibility to treat them as my enemy as well," Starfire explained matter-of-factly. She seemed uncomfortable with the offer, but determined.

Raven sighed. "You do whatever you want, Star. I don't blame Lilith for being here. If I'm angry at anyone, it's Robin."

"Oh." Starfire looked thoughtful for a moment. "I am not sure what the rules are when my FBF's enemy is my boyfriend. I am aware that men have the rule about brothers before gardening tools, but I am unclear how that applies to girls."

"I'm not asking you to take sides," Raven said, going back to her books. "I just wish Robin knew when to mind his own business."

"That is one of Robin's more difficult qualities," Starfire admitted. "However, I think if you saw what your emotions were like last night, you would understand why he could not leave things alone."

Raven grimaced. "You were there, too?"

"Just in the doorway, but I saw part of it, yes."

"Did I hurt either of you?" Raven asked quietly, dreading the answer.

"No, you did not." She heard Starfire rise and felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Even when your emotion allowed itself to be fully expressed, your powers did not go beyond the door of your room, nor come near yourself and Robin." She smiled. "Perhaps your mind can handle feeling emotions more safely than you thought."

Raven looked back at her, arching an eyebrow pensively.

Suddenly red lights flared through the Tower and their communicators lit up in sync. Both girls dropped what they were doing and ran to the common room.

The others were already standing at the main screen, which was showing the location of the alert.

"Looks like the H.I.V.E. Five again," Robin said, glaring at the blinking logo on the map.

"Seriously? Haven't those guys gotten bored of having their butts kicked by us yet?" Cyborg grumbled.

"Hey, at least they give us a regular work out," Beast Boy shrugged, leaning against Cyborg's shoulder.

"Then we'd better get over there and keep up our winning record." Robin turned to his team in full leadership-mode, cape swishing behind him.

The sound of a throat clearing nearby drew their attention. Lilith stood behind the couch, watching quietly. "May I come too? I hate feeling useless when there are bad guys at work."

"You used to combat?" Robin asked.

"I live in New York," she replied drily.

"I just meant, with your powers being telepathic, are you all right in direct hand-to-hand fights?" Robin pressed, seriously.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I team up with Wonder Girl sometimes back home, so this is nothing new to me."

"See? Everybody sees Wonder Girl but us!" Cyborg complained.

"Lilith, we'd appreciate the help. Uh…" Robin hesitated, glancing Raven's direction. She felt his regret as he realized he might be treading on dangerous ground by speaking for her about Lilith's presence again.

She didn't directly respond, simply turning to head for the elevator. "We probably ought to get there before they've loaded their car and started their getaway."

The rest followed her, taking that as acceptance. Raven did notice Lilith kept a bit of distance from her as they headed to the T-car, even as far as waiting to see what seat Raven chose so she could sit in the other row. Raven tried to get a sense of how badly she had offended the other girl, but Lilith still projected only eagerness to participate and friendly interest in those around her. Perhaps she actually was simply respecting Raven's space.

"So, since we barely know each other and we're about to fight side-by-side, mind if I ask what exactly your mental powers are?" Beast Boy asked, leaning over in his seat to talk to Lilith. Raven felt a weird twinge in her subconscious, but couldn't trace it before it receded.

"Well, it's mostly telepathy, which I keep blocked off unless I need it so I don't invade others' privacy," she explained. "Sometimes strong thoughts still seep through, but I try to ignore them. And once in a while I have some limited precognition, but it's not really reliable. I'm still learning how to use that power."

_And this is who Bumble Bee thought would be able to advise me_? Raven thought. She immediately regretted it when she felt a little spike of hurt from Lilith. She cursed herself, reminding herself that with the telepath there, her mind wasn't as private a space as she was accustomed to it being. She focused on an apologetic tone, hoping Lilith would pick that up too.

To her credit, not one hint of this exchange showed on Lilith's face as she continued chatting with the rest of the Titans and listening to Robin explain some of their battle tactics. Raven allowed herself to tune them out, centering her own mind for the fight ahead.

The Five were running in and out of the local arcade, gleefully engaged in loading a van with bags of quarters when the Teen Titans approached.

"You know, you guys have really let your standards drop since the Brotherhood of Evil thing," Robin commented, attracting their attention.

"Hey, money's money, snotwads," Gizmo retorted, emptying the bag of his complicated vacuum apparatus into the van.

"Besides, it ain't about the size of the haul," Billy Numerous added, passing bags of coins along a line of his copies like a fire brigade. "It's about making trouble for you do-gooders."

"Amen, Billy!" one of his duplicates shouted back.

"Glad you like trouble, 'cause we've got plenty about to come right at ya!" Beast Boy cracked his knuckles, settling into a fighting stance.

"All right, boys. Let's show these zit-squeezers who's boss," Gizmo said as his vacuum unfolded into a spider-legged steed.

"Man, don't tell me y'all are desperate enough that you're leading the team now." Cyborg glared at the boy.

"Tch-yeah!" Gizmo snorted. "I'm the smartest one here anyway."

"Sadly, I think he's right," Raven deadpanned.

"Hey! They brought somebody extra!" Mammoth pointed, noticing Lilith.

"So? It's not like they can outnumber us." Gizmo grinned. "Billy?"

"Time to call in the kinfolk!" The Billys dropped their money bags and formed a phalanx behind the original.

"These are your regular bad guys?" Lilith whispered to Cyborg.

"I know. Gets kinda sad after a while," he said back.

"Enough talking!" Robin snapped, drawing his staff. "Let's get this over with. Titans go!"

Both sides lunged into action, the scene rapidly turning into chaos. Raven focused her attention on Kid Wykkyd, blasting black energy at him as they took to the air. But her shots never landed. The silent villain simply teleported in and out of the battlefield, grinning like a cat at her frustration.

"You know, I actually miss fighting Jinx," she said when Beast Boy landed near her after being thrown by Mammoth.

"Wanna trade?" he asked, still upside down.

She grimaced at the giant who was now trying to swat Starfire out of the air. "I think I'm good."

Raven flew back above the smoke of Gizmo and Cyborg's firefight, searching the area for Kid Wykkyd. A blast of energy knocked her sideways with a grunt, but not out of the air. She glared down at See-more who was sighting her for another shot. She threw up a shield to block it and wrapped her powers around a pile of gravel on the ground, hoping to throw some into his eye.

"Raven!"

Her head jerked around to see Kid Wykkyd behind her, hands raised and his grin even more predatory. Before she could split her focus and project a second shield, a blast of molten fire engulfed the silent teen. He phased away quickly, looking genuinely startled.

_What_—? That wasn't Starfire's power.

Fortunately, See-more was caught off-guard by the unfamiliar attack too and she was able to summon a trash can from behind him to smack him in the back of the head while he gawked, knocking him out cold.

Turning, she saw Lilith hovering down to land beside her. "You okay?"

Raven glanced at the blazing energy dancing around the girl's hands. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. Not sure where he went, though."

"He'll wait until he has the element of surprise again." Raven glanced sidelong at Lilith as she braced herself for whatever attack came next. "You said you had precognition, right?"

Lilith winced. "Limited and unreliable, but I'll try."

As Lilith closed her eyes, Raven extended her own senses, searching for that presence, that ripple in reality that signaled a portal was about to form.

Suddenly, both girls looked in the same direction. "There."

Raven lashed out tendrils of dark energy, entrapping Kid Wykkyd as soon as he appeared. Lilith blasted him with another wave of heat, Raven's power preventing him from teleporting again.

"Surrender?" Lilith asked, walking forward with her hands still raised.

He snarled, but stopped struggling. Raven noticed the rest of the fight winding town around them, judging by the cheers from Cyborg and Beast Boy, and the increased volume of Gizmo's cursing. The boy must be growing up; she thought she caught a few real swear words in that outburst.

As the team helped load the H.I.V.E. Five into police custody, Raven stood off to one side, Lilith beside her, as Kid Wykkyd was one of the first to be contained.

"Nice job predicting his attack," she offered.

Lilith rubbed the back of her neck. "Thanks. Actually, I just got a vision of you looking where he would appear, but close enough."

Raven grunted slightly. "I don't remember you listing pyrokinesis among your powers."

"It's superheated plasma, actually," Lilith said, looking at her hands. "It's useful in a fight, but I don't really like to define myself by it."

"Too many fire-themed superheroes already?"

"No. I got the power from my mother." Lilith's eyes had gone dark and bitter as she stared at her hands. "We don't exactly get along."

Raven arched an eyebrow at this change in tone. She didn't feel right about pressing for more details, but Lilith must have sensed her curiosity as she continued.

"My mother is a Titan. Not like us; I'm not a legacy or anything. She's a literal Titan, mother of the Greek gods. Theia, who controls the power of the sun. She wants to rule the universe, even her fellow Titans, and created several children with mortal men to help her accomplish that." She smiled slightly. "Thankfully, I was hidden away from her before she could influence me and raised by a mortal family. Still, there's always the risk she may try to get control over me again someday, so it's not a power I like to encourage in myself."

Raven stared at her for a moment before looking back out at the team. "I'm sorry."

Lilith shrugged slightly, intentionally resuming her cheerful air. "It's all right. I've had wonderful families with my adoptive parents and the Amazons. I just have to keep an eye on how I use my powers, but, I mean, don't we all?"

Raven snorted. "I think I understand now why Bumble Bee chose you to help me."

"Really?" Lilith looked at her, interested. "Why?"

Raven frowned, looking over incredulously. "She didn't tell you about my background?"

"No. I admit I probably should have done my due diligence before coming out here to help, but I thought I'd rather hear it from you."

"Oh." Raven looked back at the police van awkwardly. She knew that was her cue to outline her own tragic tale, as Lilith had just shared with her, but she found she wasn't quite ready to open those old wounds yet, especially out in public.

Lilith shuffled a bit beside her. "I think I owe you an apology, Raven."

Raven looked back over with her eyebrow arched, not even bothering to hide her surprise psychically. "You do?"

"I knew _I_ was being kept in the dark about the reason my help was summoned, but I had no idea that _you_ didn't know I was coming. I honestly thought you were behind the request. If I'd known, I never would have agreed to ambush you like that."

Raven found herself flustered, turning to look straight ahead again so she could avoid Lilith's eyes. "It's not your fault," she conceded. "Robin just tends to get…ambitious when there's a problem he feels the need to solve." That was about as diplomatic as she could muster at that moment.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't here to step on your toes or anything. It's totally your call. If you want, I'll head home, no offense taken at all. If you think I can help, I'll stay and do whatever I can. All I'm offering is basically what we just did back there." She gestured to the site of their battle. "I'll back you up on whatever you're doing if you want me to. But it's your choice; no one else's."

Raven watched the boys wrestle Mammoth into the police van, Starfire following with See-more under her arm. Her attention, though, drifted to giving the girl next to her a subtle scan, trying to get a read on her intentions and sincerity. She'd been bitten too many times before to simply accept a new temporary teammate.

Still, the girl was giving her an out. She could end this irritation and awkwardness right now, go back to addressing her situation in privacy, and forget it ever happened. All it would take was a word. Just one word…

"I guess there's no point in you travelling all this way for nothing," Raven said finally. When she felt a surge of enthusiasm from Lilith, she turned to point at her with a warning glare. "But that doesn't mean I'm agreeing to anything yet. I'm going to handle my problems my way. If that includes you, I'll let you know. But do _not_ go into my head unless I give you permission and if I tell you to back off, do it."

Lilith held her hands up placatingly. "Don't worry, those are my rules too."

"Good." Seeing that the H.I.V.E. Five were successfully loaded for transport, Raven turned and strode back to the T-car without another word.

Cyborg walked up to Lilith, watching Raven leave. "Looks like you're in good."

Lilith looked up at him. "You think so?"

"Oh, yeah! You see how pissed she is? She wants to hate you so bad, but you're making it so she can't." He patted her shoulder. "Give it a few weeks, she might even start being neutral toward you, then it's just a few steps toward friendship."

Lilith chuckled slightly. "Well, no one said this was going to be a vacation."

"Nice move, by the way, backing her up during the fight," he added casually. "Nothing like seeing someone's got your back to start forging the bonds of trust."

"Yeah. Guess it was lucky those guys started trouble my first day here."

"Guess so. Pretty lucky, too, that you warned Raven about Kid Wykkyd a second _before_ he actually appeared behind her." He grinned down at her a bit dangerously. "Cybernetic eye. Catches things the human eye wouldn't."

"Really?" She looked back up at him, face betraying nothing. "Well, I told you I had precog. Sometimes it gives me something useful without me asking."

"Figured as much. Now, don't get me wrong," he added, "we all know sometimes we've got to manipulate each other a little bit if it's for their own good." His fingers tightened just slightly on her shoulder. "Just don't ever let her find out you planned that move to gain her trust. She'd forgive one of us for a trick like that because she knows we're doing it out of love, but she doesn't know you yet. You want her to warm up to you, be straight with her. Play games and she'll chew you up and spit you out. Maybe literally."

"Got it," Lilith said, eyes slightly wide.

"Good!" He clapped her on the shoulder, all smiles again, and started off toward the car. "Come on! I'll cook you a welcome dinner when we get back."

Lilith rubbed her shoulder, watching the Titans gather around their vehicle. "Yeah, off to a real good start, Lilith," she muttered to herself as she started walking after them.

* * *

**I know, I wound up taking some creative liberties with Lilith and her powers, but the show did the same with Raven. In the original comics, she didn't have telekinesis, but she needed a battle power beyond empathy/teleportation for the animated series, so I gave Lilith one too. :) Hopefully I'll do her character justice. I just figured, after her role in the Terror of Trigon storyline of the comics, who would be more appropriate to help Raven face her demons?**


End file.
